Pedro Acostahas given his Sepang MotoGP test a rating of six out of 10, as he keeps assessing KTM’s position in the tight competition going into the 2026 season.
The Austrian company enters the upcoming season in a significantly better position than last year, thanks to a major development effort during the winter.
Maverick Vinales, a rider for Tech3, helped KTM reach third position on the first day of the Sepang test, with Acosta taking over for the team based in Mattighofen and concluding the test in eighth place.
A 21-year-old achieved a personal best of 1 minute 57.253 seconds on the factory RC16, but thinks he could have entered the 1 minute 56 seconds range and secured a position within the top five if he had used soft tires when the track was in ideal condition.
In general, Acosta departed Malaysia with a moderate level of satisfaction regarding his and KTM’s performance at Sepang, as he assessed aerodynamics and various other components throughout the three-day testing period.
I would say yes,” he responded when asked if he felt improved at Sepang compared to last year. “I would say I’m ‘six out of 10’ satisfied with this. I’m pleased with my performance, how we handled things, and how the team is progressing.
I might say we didn’t install the tire at the correct time. However, in any case, I wasn’t really concentrating on just positions. I was simply focused on the task.
Acosta mentioned that certain elements of the bike’s performance were surprising during the trial, but he acknowledged that KTM has taken noticeable progress throughout the winter.
The Spanish rider mentioned that the Sepang test was essential for him to grasp the fundamentals of the motorcycle before making a final effort for the Buriram test on February 21-22, where he hopes to reveal his actual speed.
“There were some aspects of the bike that caught us off guard, and we need to figure out where they are originating from,” he stated.
It [the test] didn’t really impress me. However, overall it wasn’t as bad as last year’s test. I believe we’ve already made a good start. Ducati is still slightly ahead, but the [KTM] machine seems to be performing better.
Now my goal is to achieve maximum speed in Thailand because here [in Sepang] I didn’t want to crash. I aimed to spend time on the track and try to be as fast as possible without [making] errors.
He stated, “We’re still not as fast as Ducati, but my goal from this point was to have a clear vision in my mind of the components we need to take to Thailand, and work on creating the best possible setup.”
I’m very pleased with that [the Sepang test]. It indicates that Malaysia isn’t our strongest circuit. We also noticed this during the race weekend last year.
Thailand will also be challenging, considering the past. However, here in Malaysia, after three days, we have plenty of time to experiment with things, fine-tune the bike, adjust settings, do time trials, and all these activities, and everyone is very quick. I’m looking forward to Thailand to see where everyone stands.
Read Also:
jasdooit 
Leave a comment